McCrory Administration: Story Over Staffers Overblown

Gov. Pat McCrory says a pair of 24-year-old campaign staffers landed senior-level jobs in his administration because they were the most qualified applicants, beating out older candidates.

Wednesday night the McCrory administration said, "The AP story concerning DHHS staffers has factual errors that we’ve asked to be corrected."

Kim Genardo, the Governor’s Communications Director provided us this statement. “This story is overblown and is not serving either AP members or readers or state employees well. Every personnel law and policy was adhered to in the hiring of Diaz and McKillip. State government has nearly 90,000 employees and the press has singled out two workers. Keep in mind, no one has quibbled with their performance, work ethic and dedication to their department and the state of North Carolina.”

But the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services, where Matthew McKillip and Ricky Diaz got big promotions and raises after only a few weeks of government service, has been unable to provide any evidence their positions were ever advertised or that other applicants were considered.

In response to a public records request from The Associated Press, the state agency indicated there were no job postings or written skill requirements for the high-paying positions awarded to the young Republicans.

McKillip, the chief policy adviser to DHHS Secretary Aldona Wos, is paid an annual salary of $87,500. Diaz makes $85,000 a year as the communications director for the massive state agency, which has about 10,000 employees and an annual budget of more than $18 billion.

The two positions are exempted from the hiring rules and procedures governing most state jobs.

The governor's office, DHHS and the Office of State Personnel have all refused to comment about the process through which McKillip and Diaz were hired in January and then promoted in early April. Emails sent with written questions received no response.

McKillip received a nearly 35 percent raise after only three months on the job, while Diaz got a 37 percent boost. The big raises came despite a March 8 directive the governor sent to state agencies to freeze salary increases, limit purchases and reduce travel to help cover shortfalls in state Medicaid funding.

McCrory insists McKillip and Diaz got their positions on merit, not politics.

"They got promotions," McCrory, a Republican, said in an Aug. 15 interview with WNCN-TV in Raleigh. "They were actually moved over to areas that frankly a lot of older people applied for, too. But frankly, these two young people are very well qualified and they are being paid for jobs at which that's the pay rate for that job."

A review of job descriptions for similar government positions posted online by the Office of State Personnel show McKillip and Diaz don't meet the academic or experience requirements to qualify for even entry-level positions in the areas they now oversee. Their pay also exceeds the listed maximums for the most senior listed positions.

McKillip is classified as a "Health and Human Services Senior Planner." The state job description for an entry-level Human Services Planner I requires a four-year degree in public service administration, psychology, sociology or social work, as well as two years of administrative or consultative experience in human services. A Human Services Planner IV, the highest level carrying a maximum salary of $74,719, requires a master's degree in public or human service, along with a minimum of three years experienced.

Before joining state government, McKillip worked for McCrory's 2012 campaign and transition team. Before that, he spent 11 months as a research assistant at the American Enterprise Institute, a conservative think tank, according to his LinkedIn profile page. He has a bachelor's degree in English.

Diaz previously served as a McCrory campaign spokesman and worked for about a year in New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie's office directing social media and digital communications strategy, according to his LinkedIn page. He holds a bachelor's degree in economics and East Asian studies.

According to the state guidelines, an entry level Information and Communications Specialist I should have a four-year degree in journalism or English, or an "equivalent combination of training or experience."

Information and Communications Specialist III, the highest classification, requires a degree in journalism or English along with four years of experience in communications, public relations or publicity work. The maximum listed salary for the position is $71,346.

The taxpayer-supported salaries for McKillip and Diaz are about three times the starting salary for North Carolina public school teachers, who received no raises in the $20.6 billion state budget signed by McCrory. The budget also eliminated a program that rewards teachers for earning master's degrees.

Earlier this month, AP reported the names of five other young Republican staffers who got state government jobs with current annual salaries ranging from $52,000 to $78,000.

McCrory signed a law last week giving him direct authority to hire and fire about 1,000 additional state government employees without adhering to state personnel policy, a measure he said would improve accountability. The governor has also said it is unfair to compare the jobs and salaries of his former campaign staffers to the pay and experience guidelines established for teachers.

Speaking to a business group in Asheville on Monday, the governor suggested his administration is getting unfair and negative coverage of his economic and tax policies because news reporters don't have the educations or experience to understand his policies.

"This is too complex for the journalists," McCrory said. "They don't have economics degrees. They've not been in business."

In January, McCrory hired Blannie Cheng Garrett as his adviser on jobs and the economy at a salary of $85,500. Records show Garrett, now 28, was quickly promoted to the senior rank of deputy secretary at the N.C. Department of Commerce with a new salary of $110,000, a raise of nearly 30 percent.

According to her LinkedIn profile, Garrett has a bachelor's degree in international politics. After earning her law degree in 2010, she worked two years at a Raleigh firm where she focused on corporate taxes and private equity transactions.

She does not list a degree in economics.

(Copyright 2013 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)

Online Public Information File

Viewers with disabilities can get assistance accessing this station's FCC Public Inspection File by contacting the station with the information listed below. Questions or concerns relating to the accessibility of the FCC's online public file system should be directed to the FCC at 888-225-5322, 888-835-5322 (TTY), or fccinfo@fcc.gov.